Mr. Balfour accordingly asked whether the time had not come
for abandoning in its absolute form the doctrine that revenue was never to be raised except for national expendi- ture. He declared that if foreign countries held that our self-governing Colonies could be treated as separate nations, we must be prepared to adopt measures of fiscal retaliation. At any rate, the question whether we should be justified in raising revenue to draw the different parts of the Empire more closely together was well worth consideration. No proposal had been made to tax raw materials, but if food were not taxed it would be impossible to carry out the scheme of the Colonial.Premiers. On the other hand, we should never have a tax on food unless the people agreed to it as part of a large national policy. Finally, Mr. Balfour asserted that there was no contradiction between Mr. Chamberlain's views and his own. He was not prepared to say that the Colonial Secre- tary's scheme was practicable, but he was sure that if the British Empire was to consist for ever of a number of isolated units, it would be hopeless for us to expect to make great economic progress. In answer to a question by Mr. Lloyd- George, Mr. Balfour stated that there would be no change in the fiscal policy of the Government before a Dissolution. •
